November 13, 2022 - The Anchor of Faith
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“Faith is not credulity. It is not believing in something you know is not true. Neither is faith a substitute for knowledge. Christian faith operates in the realm of meaning, not in the realm of fact. Faith recognizes fact but it is not out to obtain, contradict, or prove facts. Saint Augustine knew this when he said, “I believe in order that I may understand.”
~Saint Augustine
Faith is an interesting thing to say the least!
It’s something so POWERFUL as to save - yet can’t be held
It’s something so fragile as to CRACK into pieces at the slightest disturbance - yet - eternal
And so - It’s - interesting!
If we were to look at how the bible defines FAITH…we’d see this...
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
So FAITH...
entails - “things HOPED for”
and “things NOT SEEN”
When I was thinking through where we would stop next in our trek through this book of 1 Samuel…and what I would preach on this week...
I came to this passage in chapter 14...
…and after some study of it...
Felt like it would be worth it to camp out there - and dive in.
1 One day Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the Philistine garrison on the other side.” But he did not tell his father.
2 Saul was staying in the outskirts of Gibeah in the pomegranate cave at Migron. The people who were with him were about six hundred men,
3 including Ahijah the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, son of Phinehas, son of Eli, the priest of the Lord in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. And the people did not know that Jonathan had gone.
4 Within the passes, by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistine garrison, there was a rocky crag on the one side and a rocky crag on the other side. The name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh.
5 The one crag rose on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba.
6 Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few.”
7 And his armor-bearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Do as you wish. Behold, I am with you heart and soul.”
8 Then Jonathan said, “Behold, we will cross over to the men, and we will show ourselves to them.
9 If they say to us, ‘Wait until we come to you,’ then we will stand still in our place, and we will not go up to them.
10 But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up, for the Lord has given them into our hand. And this shall be the sign to us.”
11 So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, “Look, Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden themselves.”
12 And the men of the garrison hailed Jonathan and his armor-bearer and said, “Come up to us, and we will show you a thing.” And Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Come up after me, for the Lord has given them into the hand of Israel.”
13 Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, and his armor-bearer after him. And they fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer killed them after him.
14 And that first strike, which Jonathan and his armor-bearer made, killed about twenty men within as it were half a furrow’s length in an acre of land.
15 And there was a panic in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and even the raiders trembled, the earth quaked, and it became a very great panic.
15 verses that highlight FAITH and its anchors...
And it all culminates in verse 6…but before we get there....
1 One day Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the Philistine garrison on the other side.” But he did not tell his father.
So Jonathan wanted to go over to the Garrison (Governor) of the Philistines...
Not to play cards or chit-chat...
But to overtake him...
And so Jonathan - was - - IN THE ACTION...
SAUL was - where?
2 Saul was staying in the outskirts of Gibeah in the pomegranate cave at Migron. The people who were with him were about six hundred men,
3 including Ahijah the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, son of Phinehas, son of Eli, the priest of the Lord in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. And the people did not know that Jonathan had gone.
Let’s look at who Saul is hanging with…IN THE OUTSKIRTS...
Ahijah…son of Ahitub (Ichabod’s brother) and (son of Phinehas who is the son of Eli the priest of the Lord in Shiloh)
Remember Ichabod?
Remember back in chapter 4 - Israel was defeated by the Philistines and the Ark was captured?
Eli’s sons were killed = and a man came to tell him
Let’s go to it...
19 Now his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant, about to give birth. And when she heard the news that the ark of God was captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed and gave birth, for her pains came upon her.
20 And about the time of her death the women attending her said to her, “Do not be afraid, for you have borne a son.” But she did not answer or pay attention.
21 And she named the child Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel!” because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband.
22 And she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”
Ichabod MEANS - “WITHOUT HONOR”
And THIS is the CLAN that Saul was hanging with in the caves...
back to our text...
4 Within the passes, by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistine garrison, there was a rocky crag on the one side and a rocky crag on the other side. The name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh.
5 The one crag rose on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba.
Before we get to the culmination in the next verse...
Know this...
SLIDE: Anchor of Faith: Conviction of Who God Is
Anchor of Faith
Anchor of Faith
v6
6 Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few.”
In reading this verse - we can see the BASIS for Jonathan’s CONFIDENCE!
it comes after the word - “FOR”...
“for…nothing can hinder the Lord from saving...”
Faith BEGINS with a conviction of who God is...
And if we look in scripture - we can find men who DIDN’T HAVE this conviction....and didn’t TRUST who God claimed to be...
God once said this to Moses...
10 Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”
11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
v10 - the Command of God - the WORD of God...
v11 - Moses’ LACK of conviction about who God was
4 more times AFTER this initial hesitation - Moses WARS against God’s command...
Why? - No conviction in who God was!
That’s why God responded with this...
11 Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?
Do you KNOW who’s talking to you??!!
Do you even KNOW who I AM?
How about the ISRAELITES - standing in between Pharaoh’s army and the Red Sea?
11 They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt?
12 Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”
They had just experienced the power of God come against Pharaoh...
AND YET -
No conviction of WHO GOD was…!
*HOW ABOUT YOU?
Good Question to Ask:
LIKE MOSES - What inadequacy of yours is keeping you from TRUSTING God - IN FAITH?
We ALL feel we have them?
lack of knowledge
lack of skill
lack of ability
lack of
Could it be that you put MORE CONVICTION in who YOU are over WHO GOD IS?
When we FAIL to follow Jesus out of the boat...
We demonstrate that our CONVICTION in who WE ARE is stronger than our CONVICTION in who GOD IS!
Another Good Question to Ask:
LIKE the ISRAELITES - What events from your past, where God no doubt MOVED in your life - are you IGNORING while you continue to NOT walk in FAITH?
The Israelites had seen God MOVE mountains for them…yet they IGNORED all of it WHILE neglecting to trust God!
Did God miraculously move in your life at one point in time - regarding...
your finances?
a relationship?
your job?
your family?
your church?
your health?
What events are we ignoring / or have forgotten?
They’re MEANT to embolden us - to INCREASE our faith!!
So NOT ONLY is CONVICTION in WHO GOD IS - an ANCHOR of Faith - meant to EMBOLDEN us…but...
What else can we see from our text…today?
We’re going to see this in our text...
SLIDE: Anchor of Faith: Expectation of What God Can Do
Anchor of Faith
Anchor of Faith
So - CONVICTION of who God IS...
NOW - Expectation of what God can do!
Back to v6
6 Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few.”
The NASB version of the Bible renders the phrase...
“PERHAPS the Lord will work for us”
Now think about that - THIS is FAITH!
Does Jonathan sound CONFIDENT that the Lord will help them CONQUER the garrison and WIN?
NO - he’s NOT confident in the immediate VICTORY...
Now some people would say - Well then THAT’S NOT FAITH!
“Faith is ALWAYS confident!!!”
The answer to THAT is - - YES, Faith IS always confident - but NOT in the IMMEDIATE victory!
It’s CONFIDENT in SOMETHING ELSE - something BETTER!!
What is Jonathan saying here??
“Perhaps the Lord will work for us”
He’s saying -
YES - I AM 100% CERTAIN that God - CAN do it.
YES - God is ABLE to DO IT
YES - God MAY WELL be PLEASED to do it...
and because THAT’S true...
We’ll NEVER KNOW unless we - STEP OUT and - - SEE!
If Jonathan would have said -
“Listen - we’re gonna GO UP THERE because God is GOING TO give us victory!”
There’s PRESUMPTION there!
There’s ARROGANCE there!
When we start DECLARING - HOW GOD is going to work in a situation - we’re starting to PUT GOD in a BOX!
But we need to know - GOD is FREE to do AS HE PLEASES!
SLIDE:
Faith is not arrogance
back to v6 (don’t read it)
6 Then Jonathan said to the young man who was carrying his armor, “Come and let us cross over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; perhaps the Lord will work for us, for the Lord is not restrained to save by many or by few.”
Remember what FAITH is?
Faith is the conviction of things - HOPED for...
Evidence of things - NOT SEEN
And so FAITH - should not be confused with ARROGANCE
This “PERHAPS” of Jonathan....it’s PART of his faith!
In saying “PERHAPS” - He’s confessing the POWER of God (God CAN do this)
But in saying “PERHAPS” - He’s also acknowledging the FREEDOM of God to do as He pleases!!
Faith is NOT the MASTER of God!
Faith recognizes its own - ignorance!
“PERHAPS God will work for us”
Jonathan was willing to walk INTO - the “Perhaps” of God!
Clear CONVICTION about WHO God is - produces GREAT EXPECTATION of God!
Which means - where there is NO great expectation of God - there is no clear CONVICTION about God and who He is!
Let’s look at an example is Scripture about - Expectations of God (or lack thereof)
4 Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.
5 Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?”
6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.
7 Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.”
8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him,
9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?”
10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number.
11 Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted.
12 And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.”
NOW - The disciples at this point, had already seen Jesus perform miracles...
YET - even so - what were their expectations of Jesus??
Jesus asks Philip - “Where are we going to buy bread so ALL these people can eat?”
What does Philip do?
Philip does the math!
And concludes - There’s NO WAY these people are going to eat…We don’t have enough MONEY!
We don’t have the RESOURCES to make it happen!!
And so we see this...
SLIDE:
There was no expectation that the people would eat, because there was no conviction that Jesus was all that they needed to make it happen.
And so if we just think through this…we see this...
Life Without Faith - says: It can’t happen, therefore I won’t step out.
Life With Faith - says: God can do it, and perhaps He will when I step out.
NOW - for most of us - the “PERHAPS” - is what scares us!
Because we think - “what if God DOESN’T come through”
What if God wouldn’t have HELPED Jonathan that day - and Jonathan would have died??
When we live life - with this mindset and heart posture...
When we say - Yes, I believe God CAN do it - but i’m too afraid that He WON’T do it, so I WON’T step out in faith...
When we live that way -
We’re demonstrating that we VALUE LIFE here on earth - Outside of God’s will - MORE than we value walking IN God’s will AS WE follow Jesus!
We’re demonstrating that we VALUE comfort and physical safety MORE THAN we value obedience to Christ!
We’re demonstrating that we would RATHER cozy up to the world and live APART from God’s presence, than to walk WITH CHRIST in opposition to a world that would hate you.
Jonathan was ALL ABOUT - stepping out - in order to SEE what God would do!
And Jonathan wasn’t STEPPING INTO an easy situation...
Remember the terrain?
4 Within the passes, by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistine garrison, there was a rocky crag on the one side and a rocky crag on the other side. The name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh.
This IDEA from Jonathan - MADE NO SENSE… from an earthly vantage point.
From a “Strategy of War” vantage point...
BUT - Faith.
And it would be like you saying...
It doesn’t really make any sense - but I’m going to sing a song at church, I’m gonna step out on to that GIANT wave....and PERHAPS God will work FOR ME…!
It doesn’t really MAKE SENSE (not something I would normally do) - but I’m going to write a note/letter to so-n-so and let them know I appreciate them… PERHAPS God will work FOR me…!
It’s DOESN”T make sense - but I’m gonna seek to TEACH in that class - PERHAPS God will work FOR me...
I’m gonna START LEADING that ministry - PERHAPS God will work for me
I’m gonna pursue preaching a sermon - PERHAPS God will work FOR me!
THIS is - FAITH!!
Listen - FAITH contains - the PERHAPS of God!
And so - FAITH entails...
Conviction of Who God Is
Expectation of What God Can Do
But it also -
SLIDE: Anchor of Faith: Execution of Stepping Into the Story of How God Works
Anchor of Faith
Anchor of Faith
Back to v6
6 Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few.”
HERE - we focus on this little phrase - By many or by few
Here we see that Jonathan was FULLY CONVINCED that God can SAVE - by ANY MEANS He deems to save with...
by many or by few!
God does as he wishes!
And so Jonathan - KNEW that God could allow him and his armor bearer to conquer 10,000 men if God wanted to!!
Jonathan KNEW how God operated!
And he WALKED that out…!
Where Philip did the MATH in the feeding of the 5000...
Where Philip got HUNG UP in the numbers...
Jonathan wasn’t at all PHASED by the numbers!
Where Philip and the apostles had not yet GRASPED how Jesus worked!...
Jonathan KNEW how God worked - and He knew OFTEN - God would DO THE IMPOSSIBLE...
HOW?? thru those - WITH - FAITH
And so Jonathan didn’t look out at his circumstances - and LET his circumstances DICTATE his level of FAITH!!
So many of us DO this...
We look around - see what’s HAPPENING - and let the temperature in the room control our faith...
We often live as - thermometers
Thermometers are CONTROLLED by the temperature in the room...
If life is falling apart - bad stuff happens - then our faith FALLS
Now a thermometer is different than a thermostat~
We should pursue living as Thermostats...
Thermostats CONTROL the temperature in the room
Our FAITH - should be so resolved - that IT controls the temperature in the room…in our lives!
SLIDE:
Our faith should dictate how we view our circumstances, as opposed to letting our circumstances dictate our level of faith.
Because WHEN we DO THIS - when our FAITH dictates how we view our circumstances - we’ll be able to LOVE and EMBRACE the freedom of God to work in our LIVES how HE deems necessary…for our good.
Because think thru that - If we let our circumstances dictate our level of faith...
What if God chooses to work in my life in a way that SEEMS strange....
Well - if my faith changes based on the STRANGENESS in my life - then I’m going to WAR against God working in my life!
Let’s look at Naaman the army commander from the OT...
Naaman had leprosy and wanted to be healed...
Elisha the prophet sends a messenger to Naaman - an Israelite girl...
And she tells him how he can be healed - TO just go to the river Jordan and wash 7 times
Here’s Naaman’s response...
11 But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper.
12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage.
So Naaman was angry that Elisha didn’t come meet with him...
He was mad - and instead of HEARING the word of God - thru ELISHA the prophet -
He walked way mad!
Naaman had expected this all to PLAY OUT differently!
He expected there to be this bigger spectacle!
But there wasn’t!
And so - Naaman wasn’t IN TUNE with how God worked...
he expected something else...
But what ends up happening?
13 But his servants came near and said to him, “My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?”
14 So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
Naaman had WARRED against the freedom of God to work in his life how GOD deemed necessary!
And yet - God remained faithful!
Naaman’s faith - had initially failed him....
But God remained faithful!
It took Naaman - stepping into the story of How God works!
And often - God works by asking US - to step out and walk on the impossible!
Do we have faith enough to step out and walk on the impossible! - as did Jonathan?
How did the story close?
6 Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few.”
7 And his armor-bearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Do as you wish. Behold, I am with you heart and soul.”
8 Then Jonathan said, “Behold, we will cross over to the men, and we will show ourselves to them.
9 If they say to us, ‘Wait until we come to you,’ then we will stand still in our place, and we will not go up to them.
10 But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up, for the Lord has given them into our hand. And this shall be the sign to us.”
11 So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, “Look, Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden themselves.”
12 And the men of the garrison hailed Jonathan and his armor-bearer and said, “Come up to us, and we will show you a thing.” And Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Come up after me, for the Lord has given them into the hand of Israel.”
13 Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, and his armor-bearer after him. And they fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer killed them after him.
14 And that first strike, which Jonathan and his armor-bearer made, killed about twenty men within as it were half a furrow’s length in an acre of land.
15 And there was a panic in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and even the raiders trembled, the earth quaked, and it became a very great panic.
What do we see play out here today...
SUMMARY
Anchors of Faith
Conviction of Who God Is
Expectation of What God Can Do
Execution of Stepping Into the Story of How God Works